Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

"Four."

The sound from the loudspeaker blared through the speakers. Zhong Lin tapped his fingertips lightly on the table, a slight smile playing on his lips, his eyes gleaming with the excitement of a hunter about to capture his prey: "Two live superhuman samples, almost in hand. The combat power of the electric one has already been measured, and the plant one is still hiding a trump card. Once we get them back, we'll slowly dismantle them, eventually exposing their true colors."

Wang Hongyuan wasn't as optimistic; his brow furrowed. "Won't something go wrong with Song Mingzhang?"

"Don't worry," Zhong Lin said easily. "Our backup plan is already on its way. The entire area within a three-kilometer radius of the villa is surrounded by my men. Electromagnetic jammers are running 24/7, and sensors and explosives have been buried fifty meters underground."

"Regardless of the outcome on Song Mingzhang's side, we must get our hands on the samples. If something unexpected happens, we can simply blow up the entire Yunyin Manor. We can't take the living ones with us, but we can still study the corpses."

He had barely finished speaking when the technician monitoring the energy readings suddenly changed his expression. Pointing at the wildly fluctuating red numbers on the screen, his voice trembled: "No! The energy readings are skyrocketing! It's not coming from Liu Zhen! It's coming from underground!"

Zhong Lin's smile froze for a moment, and he suddenly leaned down to look at the screen.

The red curve representing energy intensity shot up like a rocket, quickly surpassing all previous monitoring peaks. The red warning lights flashed wildly, and a piercing alarm sounded in the cramped carriage.

The reading on the screen continued to rise rapidly, quickly exceeding the instrument's maximum range, emitting a long "beep," and the screen instantly turned into a snowy display.

"What is that?" Wang Hongyuan's voice trembled as he stared out the window toward the direction of Yunyin Manor. The sky there seemed a little brighter than before, with faint blue and white light shining up from the ground.

……

Zhaoming City Abnormal Affairs Bureau Observation Station.

The phone on the duty officer Xiaolin's desk suddenly started ringing frantically, the piercing ring shattering the silence of the command center.

He grabbed the phone. The voice on the other end, filled with barely suppressed panic, was from the outer observation post: "Report! There's movement in the direction of Cloud Hidden Manor! A very loud noise, and light, blue and white, coming from underground. The whole mountain is shaking!"

Han Qiming stood up abruptly: "Notify Yue Sheng, a superhuman has appeared. Let's set off now!"

The operator next to him had already dialed the channel for the Sharp Blade Brigade, and Yue Sheng's voice quickly came through: "This is Yue Sheng. I have received orders and am now leading the team to set off."

Han Qiming walked to the window and looked at the deep night outside, his heart feeling as if it were being tightly gripped by a hand.

Even the fastest route from the base to Yunyin Manor takes ten minutes. Ten minutes is enough time for a lot to happen.

The tragedy at Jingyuan Villa was still fresh in their minds. When they arrived, not even a trace of Han Dongcheng's bones remained. What about this time?

Will they be able to make it this time?

……

"three."

"two."

The countdown over the loudspeaker had reached its final point, and Song Mingzhang's voice was filled with undisguised murderous intent.

More than a dozen mercenaries simultaneously raised their guns, the flamethrower valves were turned to the maximum, and orange-red flames flickered at the muzzles. The sniper's crosshairs were firmly locked on the two figures in the shell crater, waiting only for the order to blast that small area into scorched earth.

In the crater, Liu Zhen looked at Meng Zhaowen's face, which had aged instantly, and his eyes reddened instantly, but he forced back his tears.

He knew this was Meng Zhaowen's choice, a desperate gamble with his entire fortune, and he couldn't afford to waste it.

Liu Zhen recalled that a few days ago, Meng Zhaowen first spoke to him about the ancient tree roots deep underground: "They are too old, having slumbered for hundreds of years. Awakening them will come at a great cost."

Liu Zhen asked how old he was.

Meng Zhaowen remained silent for a long time before uttering two words: "Lifespan."

The night wind blew, making the roof rattle.

Liu Zhen didn't speak, he just stared at him.

Meng Zhaowen adjusted his glasses and continued, "But if it really comes to that, I won't hesitate. Your electricity and my roots can be combined. Your electric arc will enter my body, spreading throughout the entire area along the root system, just once, just once."

Liu Zhen's voice was deep: "Can you handle it?"

Meng Zhaowen smiled, a smile that held a calmness born from a profound understanding of life and death: "You have to bear it, even if you can't. This is our last resort."

The two made this silent agreement in the darkness.

Now, it's time to reveal this trump card.

Liu Zhen didn't say anything more, he just reached out and pressed heavily on Meng Zhaowen's shoulder.

A dark blue arc of electricity erupted from his palm, flowing down his arm and into Meng Zhaowen's body.

This wasn't a high-voltage current used for attack; it was the purest electrical energy that Liu Zhen had mobilized with all his might, flowing like blue water through Meng Zhaowen's bones, blood vessels, and nerves.

Finally, following his palm pressed into the soil, along the root channels that had been built with his lifespan, the water flowed continuously into the depths of the earth.

Meng Zhaowen's body trembled violently. The pain of electric current passing through his body and the pain of losing his life force combined to almost tear his nerves apart.

But his palm never left the ground, pressing it firmly there, like a bridge, connecting Liu Zhen's lightning with the ancient tree roots underground.

The ancient tree roots, which had been dormant for hundreds of years, spread out all their tendrils in the darkness, like a giant, all-encompassing net, greedily absorbing the incoming lightning. Blue and white electric light spread along every root, illuminating the entire underground area.

The entire lawn began to tremble, the soil swelled, the turf cracked, and a deep rumble came from the ground, like the roar of an ancient beast.

Meng Zhaowen raised her head; her hair was completely white, but her eyes burned with the light of a sacrificer setting themselves on fire, a light that was frighteningly bright.

He looked at Liu Zhen, a slight smile playing on his lips, and said with a sense of relief, "This time, they'll be in for a world of hurt."

"one!"

"Since you're courting death, then I'll grant your wish."

"Everyone, fire!"

Just then, Song Mingzhang's murderous voice came from the loudspeaker.

The earth exploded the moment the two finished speaking.

The first tree root, as thick as a bucket, burst forth from the ground like a spear crackling with electricity, instantly piercing the body of the nearest mercenary. It entered from the sole of his foot and exited from his shoulder. Blood mist and blue-white lightning exploded simultaneously. The mercenary didn't even have time to let out a scream before he was burned to a crisp by the high-voltage current!

The second, the third, the tenth, the thirtieth, the hundredth... countless tree roots surged wildly from the ground, lifting the entire lawn into the air in a second. The scorched soil and grass clippings mixed with blue and white lightning, like a torrential rain falling from the sky.